It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,799, issued Nov. 7, 1989, to provide a machine for unloading film sheets from magazines. More specifically, the machine as disclosed in such patent has movable trays for supporting a plurality of magazines, and the trays are spaced from each other in a vertical direction. The trays are supported by an elevator for movement in a vertical direction as a unit. When a tray is in a particular vertical position, the tray and magazine are moved to an unloading position where the sheet in the magazine can be removed by suction cups. The removed sheets are then fed to a cassette or to a photographing device for exposure.
In computed radiography, a photographic element, such as a stimulable phosphorus sheet or rigid plate, is exposed to form a latent image. The exposed photographic element is taken to a reader where the photographic element is stimulated to produce a light pattern that can be read and recorded. The photographic element is erased and can be reused again. It is common to manually transport the cassette containing the photographic element from the exposure apparatus to the reader and manually insert it into the reader. The operator then waits until the image is read, a photographic element is erased and returned to the operator. While this procedure may be satisfactory, it requires much time and effort by the operator. Operator time is increased when the reader is relatively slow in reading and erasing the photographic element, and this can require more than a full minute of time. It clearly is desirable to minimize the time required by an operator, and to do so in a way which makes it feasible for the automatic feeding of cassettes to the reader.
There has also been disclosed in the prior art use of an automatic storage and feeding apparatus for delivering of cassettes to a reader. Typically, a plurality of movable positions are provided wherein the cassettes are moved through a reading position wherein a cassette is delivered to the reader for processing of the photographic element. It is important that the cassettes be precisely positioned with respect to the reader so that the photographic element can be easily and correctly removed. It is also important that the weight of the cassettes be held down to a minimum. In order to accommodate more than one size cassette in the autoloader, there has been suggested the providing of various size pallets for holding different size cassettes. However, some of these pallets have been limited to one size and have added significant weight to the pallet and cassette combination. While some have suggested use of the providing of a pallet for holding more than one size cassette, there has been difficulty providing these pallets such that they will not interfere with the autoloading process and provide the cassette/pallet in the position adequate for accurate alignment with the reader.
Thus, the present invention provides a pallet for holding cassettes of different sizes which simplifies the handling of the cassette, reduces operator time required to provide the cassette to a reader, is easy to use, is low cost, and provides the pallet in a seated position to the reader.